The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Lollies and Loki- CH14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Gabriel had known that Puck would start spreading rumours about Hermione throughout the different pantheons, the fey trickster was a little shit who could never resist the urge to start stirring up trouble, but that hadn't meant he'd expected returning to his favourite house to find a familiar face waiting for him.

"Váli!" He said in surprise, a warmth swelling inside him at the sight of his youngest son, "what are you doing here?"

Gabriel cared deeply for his children, all of them, but their relationships were... not quite normal by human standards. Pagans certainly felt love, felt it wild, greedy and strong, but their extended lifespans meant decades could pass before they felt the need to seek each other out. As the influence of both science and the Abrahamic faiths had spread and gained prominence across the globe, the different pantheons had lost their anchors to the people who'd once worshipped them. Finding themselves no longer tied to their lands, they'd left to go exploring and had never truly stopped.

Gabriel hadn't seen Váli for nearly a hundred years now, though his son looked barely changed from the last time he'd laid eyes on him— Váli had always resembled his mother, Sigyn; tall and fair with waist-length hair so dark it seemed to soak in the light. His eyes, however, were the same honeyed colour as Gabriel's own, flashing a bright, brilliant gold like sunlight when he used seiðr. [seiðr = magic]

"I heard a few interesting whispers going around and thought I'd go to the source." Váli said with an easy smile but sharp eyes.

"Interesting whispers, huh?" Gabriel asked, mouth twisting in displeasure at the confirmation, although he'd hardly expected anything different. He wasn't at all expecting what his son asked next, however.

"So is it true that I have a new little sister, then?"

"What!?" Gabriel demanded, shocked and not even attempting to hide it. Why did his sons keep thinking that? And for that matter, was everyone thinking that now? Because that... that wasn't good. That was very not good.

Váli tilted his head in apparent surprise. "It's not true?" he asked.

"It's definitely not true." Gabriel confirmed flatly. "I have a new devotee, not a new daughter."

"A devotee?" Váli asked, interested now. "Is she your gyðja?" [gyðja = priestess]

Gabriel shook his head. "No, I just favour her," he admitted.

"You must." Váli murmured, those terribly familiar sharp gold eyes boring straight into his own. Gabriel met his son's gaze calmly and when Váli eventually dipped his chin he allowed his expression to relax into something teasing.

"So, tell me— how's Eris?" He asked, wagging his eyebrows, and Váli let out a bark of laughter, his own face relaxing into lazy amusement.

"Better then you and Kali, I'd say," he smirked and Gabriel winced. Kali had... possibly not been the best choice he'd ever made, but beauty and power attracted him and Kali was gorgeous, exotic, and deadly. She was also prideful and obstinate and paid no heed to anything but her own whims, which had eventually led to a break up that had been a disastrous mess on the same level as the Titanic and Chernobyl.

"Urgh, don't talk to me about her," he complained out loud to his son, "I still can't set foot in India unless I'm hiding my presence!"

"Oh please," Váli scoffed, "we both know you could crush her without even trying."

"There's a difference between 'can' and 'should'— and 'want', for that matter," Gabriel pointed out, because he wouldn't deny he still had a soft spot for the Indian goddess, and Váli shrugged, uncaring.